New rule for planned Maint. Software?

DK about regs, but these programs have been in use for office buildings, car & truck fleets and probably the oil rig fleets for some time. Too often machinery tells you it needs maintenance at the very worst possible times.

Hi,

Welcome to the real world.

You have obviously not been on any vessels over 500 Tons running a full ISM Program.

I would suggest you read up on what a Planned Maintenance System actually is and does.

The basis of any Planned Maintenance System must by default be what the equipment manufacturers recommend at the outset. This can and should be adjusted/customized to the actual real-world situation as you find it.

By this I mean if say the CAT Manual says do the Sea water Pump Impeller at 2500 Hrs but you find that you have a coupe of vanes split or falling off at 2000 hrs when you have a look while doing your 1000 Hrs Service, it would make sense to reduce the replace interval to 2000 Hrs don't you think.

The PM System is not the computer telling you to do anything other than what the equipment suppliers would be telling you if you read the books, you or the person who set it up has read the books and extracted the relevant data to put into the PMS at the setup phase.

It can either be your friend in the Engine Room or your enemy if you see it that way.

Simply put it allows you to "Plan what you do and do what you plan" in a simple and well laid out format in 99% of cases.

I am in the process of doing one now and fully expect to spend the next 12 months working on it till it is pretty much complete as my access to the required data is limited by the shipyards ability to produce it.

That is an interesting position (or two) to take. I would say that if you wait for the machinery to talk to you it's more than likely to be too late and much more expensive than the more professional approach.

You will find that a good planned maintenance system does far more than just "tell you what to do."

Hi,

It is not compulsory to use a Software program solely for the PMS.

Paper based ones work ok and in some instances can be less trouble than a poorly configured/maintained software based one.

You will find on a large yacht these days that there is so much to keep track of and to comply with that any assistance that you can get to keep track of things is welcomed.

The PMS that I am setting up is a part of a bigger Software package, it will be integrated and linked to the system as a whole, when complete with the addition of sections by the deck and interior depts it will hopefully help to make the on-board teams life simple and straight forward when it comes to the operation and maintenance of the vessel.

To get an overview of what some of these programs are capable of have a look at the popular yacht ones: Techman, Idea, Yachtlink. The first two are ACCESS based and the other one is written in File Maker Pro.

All of them are only ever going to be as good as what is put in to them initially.A paper based one will also only be as good as it can be given the data used to set it up. If you have to scan all the manuals and drawings and enter all the Maintenance Data manually you are up for quite a lot of work and not something that can easily be done while you are also doing your normal job in any sort or short time frame. On the other hand if you do not have a date when you have to have it finished take your time and learn as much about the software itself as you can so you have a good understanding of how it works and where to find things when you are using it for real.

Also, If you are ever doing one of these setups from scratch there is one very simple word to remember as you go.............BACKUP.

That about sums it up.

The main requirements for any Maintenance managment system be it paper or electronic IMHO are:

1. Careful initial configuration of the system; by this I mean laying out the maintenance schedule for all your machinery in accordance with the OEM's schedule, pragmatism, experience and ensuring that all the tasks are not scheduled for the same day.

2. Ease of finding when an item of maintenance is due, what spares/tools/time is required and recording when it is done, what was used and how long it took.

3. Control of your inventory of spares and ease of finding spare parts numbers that require ordering in.

4. The ability to see ahead what is due so tasks can be brought forward to suit the boat's programme. Similarly items can be deferred easily due to lack of spares or not having been used.

5. The user interface being quick and intuitive needing no extra time to operate nor steep learning curve.

6. Hours run maintenance being kept up simultaneously with calender based, ie some equipment require service every 250 hours and also 6 monthly.

7. The system must be easy to audit to see what has been done historically and provice a meaningful record to allow inspection by whomever needs to see. IE, Flag/Class auditors, engineer handovers, pre-sale inspections.

8. Once a task has been completed the system should generate the next task in the diary at the required periodicity.

9. If a task requires more frequent attention or beomes obsolete due to the eqpt being removed, it should be easy to adjust.

Electronic means make most the above simpler to carry out, copy, update and transmit but any MMS is only as good as the staff which use it.

No schedule should be followed so slavishly that a 'hot bearing' is ignored until the maintenance is due.

I have used purely paper a mixture of both and purely electronic, I prefer a well written electronic version coupled with common sense. YMMV

Very nicely described.

That system is particularly valuable when there is rotation and a number of engineers onboard who may have different areas of responsibility or expertise.

They have been around for years. They are networked into the vessel's server so operation and maintenance information can be accessed by shoreside personnel to provide technical support, parts ordering, and other housekeeping assistance.

Photographs of broken bits can be sent to OEMs and drawings and manuals can be updated or supplied to enable onboard repairs. This is nothing new.

FullaFlava's description is pretty much spot on. But, as with any program (software based or otherwise), it is only as good as the people that manage and use it.

In my experience working with maintenance programs (US Navy and civilian programs), a combination of software-based and hard copy has tended to be a happier medium than either format used individually. Computer programs are used by the maintenance manager to assist in planning scheduled maintenance, tracking completed maintenance, determining equipment operating trends, and if used in conjunction with an inventory program aids in scheduling for purchasing of maintenance supplies, tools, repair/spare parts.

Hard copies are for use by the maintenance personnel and normally list tools and materials required to conduct said maintenance, and should list normal operating parameters or pass/fail requirements.

Additionally, the maintenance hard copies should also be written in such a manner that the maintenance can be conducted by nearly anyone with a basic knowledge of the operation of the equipment. As has already been stated in another post here, due to crew change outs, a well written, logical, and understandable maintenance requirement reduces the need for retraining.

Back to the software side of things, updates, modifications of maint. procedures, auditing, and reporting are much easier to accomplish and implement as opposed to having to reprint an mfr.'s equipment manual or have to rely on someone's handwritten notes in the margin of the maintenance page.

As was also mentioned in one of the posts above, the argument about conducting maintenance where no maintenance is really needed (i.e., too much bearing grease, for example) is easy to modify to become a visual inspection of the bearing. Is there enough grease on the bearing? (Yes/No) If yes, maintenance complete. If no, proceed to next step, etc., etc.

And lastly, software-based programs with printable maintenance procedures also assist in maintaining positive control of the manufacturer's technical manuals (instead of a manual disappearing into the engine room every time maintenance is required on a piece of equipment). I have experienced many times where a piece of equipment has failed and needed a manual only to find that it is not in the library because someone has failed to return it to its shelf, lost it in the bilge, or disappeared when there was a crew transfer. Which requires tech manual replacement resulting in increased equipment down time, replacement cost, and possibly the increased cost of hiring a contractor and loss of revenue.

Again, as has already been stated, software-based programs are a management tool and is only as good as the information it contains and the people that manage it. Printable maintenance cards are also an avenue for maintenance personnel to provide feedback as to what should be added/deleted/modified for each individual maintenance requirement.

JB

Read all about it....... Read all about it....

http://www.thecrewreport.com/crewessentials.asp?subsection=Engineers Focus&id=16554